Many people are choosing to look at engagement rings and wedding rings that are 100% free from exploitation. While the diamond industry has made great strides in recent years to provide conflict free stones, child exploitation, corruption, and environmental destruction are still rampant within the natural diamond industry. It can be discomforting for couples to be giving something that publicly shares their love for one another with a product that very likely was created through the oppression of other people and harm to the natural world. You can absolve yourself from all of this guilt by choosing from our wonderful selection of Cubic Zirconia rings that are set on beautiful sterling silver instead of gold, a precious metal that is fraught with its own problems similar to diamonds.
The diamond industry is well aware of the public perception nightmare and has tried to address the concerns through flashy marketing campaigns, coining the term “conflict-free” diamonds. The industry developed the Kimberley process which is a certification institution created after the horrendous Sierra Leone conflict which was essentially funded by warlords using the diamond mines and wholesalers to get resources for war. The Kimberley process reviews where the diamonds are coming from and can check and verify that they are conflict-free. These diamonds then are sent to specific Kimberley Process countries that buy and trade in the conflict free stones.
However, the industry was clever in their choice to focus on this most egregious abuse of the diamond mining business. The Kimberley process does not regulate anything in regards to the work environment, whether children or adults are exploited and forced into dismal work conditions, or what happens to the local environment due to the mines. This certification to focus on just the conflict nature of the area that a diamond has been sourced to has provided significant cover for individuals that are in the diamond industry to continue to conduct business that negatively impacts thousands and thousands of workers and villagers in nearby areas. They can tout that they are doing a great thing and ensuring conflict free gemstones while ignoring all of the other atrocities associated with the business. If this is unacceptable to you, you do not need to participate in the trade, there are options such as Cubic Zirconia rings and other gemstone free options for the right ring for you and your loved one.
The ethical choice when selecting a stone for an engagement or wedding ring is to find a lab created diamond. You can still share the personal and cultural aspects of ring giving between two people creating a bond for life and not have any of the ethical or moral baggage associated with natural diamonds.
There are other benefits of a cubic zirconia stone aside from not having the blood and sweat of children and less fortunate people on your finger. They are affordable. Natural diamonds are expensive, just because they often come from the labor of overly oppressed people doesn’t mean they are cheap. There is often rounds of bribes, payoffs, and government corruption as the stones pass from miners, to mine operators, wholesalers, processors, and international buyers, rapidly increasing the price that you would pay at the counter at your local jewelry shop. While you could expect to pay hundreds of dollars or easily well over a thousand for a very small diamond you can spend less than a hundred dollars for a very large, beautiful CZ stone set on a brilliant sterling silver ring with a rhodium finish giving it the allure and shine of a platinum ring.
Take time to consider the purchase you are making when sharing a ring with the person you are going to spend the rest of your life with. Do you want that to be established with a gift that is rooted in horrible violence towards people and the environment or do you want it to free and clear from those horrible practices? If you buy a Cubic Zirconia ring you also will save a bunch of money which can go towards to your honeymoon, instead of lining the pockets of a corrupt government official overlooking slave labor conditions for mine workers, go on a trip to Paris or Hawaii.